


Be Unbroken Or Be Brave Again

by Multishipperlove



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Child Abuse, Gen, I'm not sure if I should tag them all, Modern AU, This is not supposed to be an accurate depiction of CPS work, look there are going to be a lot of characters in this, please do not take it as one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2020-07-27 04:37:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20040043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multishipperlove/pseuds/Multishipperlove
Summary: Most of the time, Keyleth loves her work at Emon's division of Child Protective Services. Helping children is all she's ever wanted, even if the job is difficult, at times depressing, and she often feels like she talks to the parents more than she talks to the actual children. But it's important work, and there are enough cases where she can really see the impact she makes.Her newest case, Vax'ildan Vessar, seems like another typical case of a rich kid who's trying to get Daddy's attention by acting out. But after a closer look and a conversation with one of their teachers, she quickly sees that there is more behind it than that. And with the added political entanglements of the family, it becomes one of the most complicated cases for her to date.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I am trying to do a multi-chapter story and decided to post it even though I'm not completely finished with the plot yet. Since Emon is still a fantasy setting I'm also taking a lot of liberties here, I hope that doesn't bother anyone too much.  
Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

Keyleth was just finishing up some last details on her report on the Leore family when she could see Percy leaving his office, a rather slim file in his hand and a grimm look on his face. She stopped her typing for a moment, curious which one in their department would be the unlucky one, only to realize with a sinking feeling that Percy was coming right for her cubicle. 

“Percy... I was almost done for today,” she complained, glancing wistfully towards the clock which read six thirty already. She had kind of been planning on leaving early, so much for that. 

“I know, which is why you're the one getting the case,” he told her, with little sympathy in his voice. But he knew she didn't really mind, as she was already holding out her hand for the file. “It's not much,” he warned her. “But Trickfoot called, and you know she has a good eye for this sort of thing. Call her again if you have any questions, I'm not sure how willingly the family's going to talk to us from what she told me.

She nodded slightly, already going through the first couple of pages. “Got it. I'll do what I can,” she promised. “Talk to me again tomorrow and we'll see how far I got.” 

They agreed on that, and Percy left her to her work again. With another look at the time she gave herself another hour, maybe two, to become a bit familiar with her new charge, and wrote herself another reminder to call Pike tomorrow. 

Pike Trickfoot, teacher at one of Emon's best high schools, was indeed very good at picking up on abuse and neglect among her student body, so they tended to take her calls very seriously. Maybe it was just good insight, maybe it was the fact that she had spend some time in the system herself as a child before being taken in by her great-great-grandfather Wilhand. Either way, that lady was a ray of sunshine and everyone who had worked with her, or rather one of her students, considered her a friend. 

Also, her foster brother, Grog, worked as a security guard at their office. And he wasn't someone anyone wanted to mess with. So whoever didn't like Pike probably kept their mouth shut around the Goliath. 

Keyleth once more reminded herself to stay on task, and instead of reminiscing about Pike she finally focused on the paper in front of her. The first thing that jumped out to her was the picture. It wasn't anything unusual, a normal school foto of an unenthusiastic teenager, long black hair going past his shoulders despite already being bound up in a pony tail. She noticed the colorful beads braided in on one side, which seemed to be the only touch of colour on him. His face displayed some elvish features, and with how strongly they were still recognizable she suspected him to be a first generation half-elf, which was enough in some families to start trouble. 

Vax'ildan Vessar. 

The name rang a bell somehow, but she couldn't place it at the moment, so she made another note and decided to find out more about that later. 

A sister was noted down as well, Vex'ahlia, apparently twins. And a half-sister, Velora, a lot younger than the other two. The twins were 15, Velora had just turned four and was enjoying her first year of kindergarten. 

The file was clearly from their school, listing some behavioural problems along with issues such as skipping class, getting into fights with other students and, that actually got Keyleth's attention for a moment, getting suspended for a month for bringing a knife to school. 

His grades were passable for the most part, but he was currently failing two classes and had started to skip P.E. completely, which was never a good sign. Compared to his sister, who appeared to be, overall, a straight A student, it gave a bit of a confusing picture. But every child or teenager reacted to pressure differently, and while Vax seemed to take the offensive route, maybe his sister was overcompensating instead. Another note got taped to her desk, reminding her to ask for the files of the two sisters tomorrow when she made her phone call. 

She spend some more time going through everything, but there was nothing unusual except for one teacher's report mentioning that the kid had apparently been caught stealing, more than once. Made her wonder how he had avoided juvie court so far. If there had been a juvie file, it would have already been on her desk by now. Percy was good about giving them as much information as possible to start with. 

The few notes she'd made for herself went into the file along with everything else before she decided she was done for the evening, and there was no use in going over this again before she either got to talk to Pike, the kid himself, or, even better, his whole family. 

Just as she was about to pack up she noticed the Leore report again though, and groaned softly. Right, she had put that aside for the new case. 

At least there wasn't much left on it before she could go home. For real this time. Not that there was much to write in the first place, since Harold Leore still refused to talk to them for the most time and didn't show up to his mandatory AA meetings either. Maybe this would finally convince her higher ups to take Kynan out of that situation though, she wouldn't complain about that. 

She had been the boy's case worker for over a year now, and it had only taken her about half of that time to give up on his father. But it wasn't her decision to take a child away from their family, unless they had a reason to fear for the child's life, she could only argue her case and let the court handle the rest of it. It was incredibly frustrating at times, but this time they would have to listen to her. 

Bruises were easy enough to explain, but when a child stood in front of you with blue and purple stripes all the way down his back, you stopped believing that he fell of his bike. 

With that picture in mind she finished her report, ending it with a very clear statement that it would be in Kynan's best interest to be away from his father. For good. 

She glanced over to the new file, one of many now that were waiting for her each day, and hoped that Vax'ildan would have it easier.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter! I actually had this written down already but wanted to wait with posting it, so any next chapters will take longer to upload. Also, we're still not meeting the twins in this one, it's probably going to take a while for that.  
Anyway, enjoy! And let me know what you think ^^

The next morning, Keyleth was the first one in the office. Not even Percy had beat her this time, and she took the few minutes she had spared at home to get coffee and make sure the plants around the office were well cared for. 

But there was a reason she was almost an hour early instead of her usual ten minutes late, so after taking care of that she hurried to her cubicle and started her computer. The files beside her were still stacked up high, even without any new info she would receive today, and her desk was littered with sticky notes. It was always a bit strange to be responsible for other families and help them organize their life when she could barely keep it together herself at times, and Keyleth was well aware that Percy left her a lot of free room to handle things her own way. More than any other boss probably would. 

Just another reason why she liked her job. 

When her computer was finally ready to function she checked her mails first, hoping that there had already been a response to her report on Kynan. No such luck. But considering how late that had gone out yesterday she wasn't all that surprised, it had just been wishfull thinking. Still, she was disappointed. This couldn't be settled soon enough, in her opinion. 

With that out of the way though she finally reached for her phone, and checked one last time that she wasn't late. 

07.43 am. School hadn't started yet but most teachers would probably be awake by now. The perfect time to call Pike Trickfoot. 

As expected, it didn't take the gnome long to pick up. Her greeting sounded a bit sleepy, but Keyleth was pretty sure she could hear a coffee machine going in the background. She would know that sound anywhere. 

“Pike! I mean, Ms. Trickfoot, hi. It's Keyleth Korrinson, from CPS?” She stammered her way through the greeting, remembering in the last second that she probably shouldn't get on a familiar level with Pike right away when she was calling for official reasons. The last time they had spoken had been a while ago, so she wasn't sure if Pike would appreciate that.

Pike was having none of it though. “Keyleth, hey. It's so good to hear from you again,” she replied quickly, before assuring her once more that she didn't mind being addressed by her first name. “Please tell me you're calling about the Vessar children,” was the next thing she said, which surprised Keyleth a bit. 

“I am, actually. Why, did you talk to Percy about any other children recently?”

“Well, we have a few cases at our school already, but recently? No, Vax'ildan was the only one I talked to Percy about,” Pike told her, and Keyleth could swear she could hear nervousness in her tone. “I just have to admit, I was kinda hoping you would get the case.” 

“Why's that?” She grabbed for a pen and shuffled through the papers in front of her, trying to find an empty page. If the conversation started like that, she wanted to make sure to take notes. 

Pike seemed to hesitate for a moment on the other side of the line. “Oh, it's nothing. It's just because... you know, I haven't heard from you for so long. And I like the way you work. You are good with children like that.”

Keyleth gave an unimpressed look at that statement, pretty sure that the other woman was avoiding something. But who was she to deny a compliment. “Well, thank you. But what exactly do you mean by 'children like that'? I was calling for more information anyway, since you only send us the file of the son, but now you make it sound like there's more we need to look into.”

“Well, since Vax shows the most behavioural issues I figured he would be save to start with. In the sense of, I knew Percy wouldn't turn me down if I voiced my concerns,” Pike starteed. “But I'm worried about the whole family.”

They talked for a good 30 minutes after that, making Pike late for her first class, but she assured Keyleth that she would rather get this out of the way first. Apparently she trusted the older students to spend a few minutes by themselves without killing each other. 

When they had finally hung up again, Keyleth went over the notes she had made. There'd been the promise of more files being send over, this time for Vex'ahlia and Velora, and she would have to wait for those first, but she had gotten some additional information. 

Apparently the twins had been to several different schools over the last five years, in different countries no less. And she would need files and data from every single one of those. From experience, it would be difficult to get their hands on those. But she needed to know if this behaviour was new, or if something had changed recently. 

She'd also been told that before those five years, the twins had lived with their biological mother instead. Where, Pike hadn't been able to tell her, but it was still a good thing to know. Whatever had happened to the mother, she should be able to find out more about that, as long as she knew where the twins were born. 

Keyleth could already see her morning unravelling into a series of phone calls and e-mails to different administrations, authorities and other people in charge, with everyone re-directing her to someone else and no one giving any clear answers. Especially if other jurisdictions and countries were involved, so that would take time. 

With a groan she rested her head on top of her desk, really not in the mood to deal with all of that today. But it needed to be done, preferably before she talked to the family, because it was always better to go in prepared. Just in case they tried to bullshit anyone. 

Along with that, there was the fact that the kids' father was appparently some kind of politician, though Pike had been incredibly vague about that, which made her all the more suspicious. All in all, it was shaping up to be a horrible case. 

With her head still down she didn't notice Percy approaching, until he placed another coffee cup in front of her, effectively startling her back into an upright sitting position. Throughout her talk with Pike everyone else had slowly trickled into the office as well, and from the way it looked, the first few people had already left for field work. 

“Morning.” Percy gave her a bit of an amused look as she looked around, before finally focusing back on him. “You were here early. Decided to get a head start?”

“Just called Pike,” she told him, leaning back in her chair now and gladly taking the second cup of coffee. Her own had run dry about twenty minutes ago. “You know, before school starts and all that. I got some new information and she's going to send over what she has on the siblings, but I can already tell it's going to get ugly.”

Percy frowned at that and leaned forward a bit, resting his arms on the wall of her cibicle. “Ugly how?”

“Father seems to be into politics, but she wouldn't tell me much about it,” Keyleth told him truthfully, and Percy just nodded slowly. Those cases tended to be awful, even if it was about minor instances and complaints. He blamed the corruption of power, in his opinion it just made people all the more unbearable. 

“Well, just stay on it for now. I know you will find a way,” he told her finally, fully trusting her abilities on this. He knew others tended to see her as naive, but at least with her, he could be sure that she wouldn't let go of a case until it had been resolved. 

Keyleth sighed in response but nodded. “I will do my best. Got some other things to work on for now, but– yeah, I'll get to it.” 

And she would, even if the thought of all those phone calls alone already gave her a headache. But coffee would have to come first.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting a bit more complicated. Enjoy!

Despite her promise, three days had gone by before Keyleth was able to focus on her newest case again. The morning after her conversation with Pike had been overshadowed by another emergency, and by the time she had finally been back in her office there had been a confirmation for a court hearing regarding Kynan. 

So she had spend the last two days going over every single note she had on the boy and his father, trying to prepare for her testimony as best as she could. It was set for a week from now, a date she already considered too far away, especially after she had gotten a very angry call from the later. 

Over all of that, she hadn't forgotten about the Vessar children though. There hadn't been time for anything more than briefly skimming through their files so far, now that she had access to the ones from the girls as well, and with a closer look they weren't any less worrying than what the teachers had written down about Vax'ildan. 

Vex'ahlia was mostly studious and quiet, but had broken a boy's wrist before for harrassing her. A valid reaction in Keyleth's opinion, but maybe not an appropriate one. Some teachers had expressed worries that her close relationship with her twin brother would have a bad influence on her, but that was about it. She didn't seem to call much attention to herself. 

Velora wasn't much different. She was described as friendly, energetic, and well behaved by her teachers. A bit shy maybe. But there wasn't a single instance noted down about her acting out, throwing a tantrum or anything of the like. It was almost too perfect, Keyleth thought. 

She had started her workday with the calls she'd been putting off for the last few days, and as expected, it took her a while to get through to anyone. But by the time lunch rolled around she had at least found out about the last three places the twins had lived.

Apparently their father's business had dragged them all over the country of Tal'Dorei over the last few years, sometimes not staying in one place for longer than a few months. A lot of change for teenagers. It was definitely a point she would have to bring up when talking to the family. 

She hadn't been able to find anything about their biological mother yet, which was a bit unusual, but most likely meant she was not alive anymore. Dead people could be incredibly hard to track sometimes. 

She was just about to leave for lunch, her head still racing with thoughts on the twins, when she could see Percy coming for her again. She stopped what she was doing, noticing that he looked tense. “Hey, what's-” 

“My office, now,” he muttered, not even letting her finish her sentence. With a slight frown she followed, wondering what had gotten him upset. Her stomach dropped at the thought that something could have happened to Kynan, just days before they finally had the chance to get him out of that household. 

Percy held the door open for her, closed it behind them and motioned for her to sit down. Apparently her worry was obvious. 

“It's not that kind of emergency,” he assured her, settling down behind his desk. He folded his hands in front of him and looked at her over the rim of his glasses, giving her the eery feeling that she was back in a principle's office herself. “But you're not gonna like this,” he finally continued. “Syldor Vessar has called me.” 

“You mean, as in, the father of Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia Vessar?” she asked confused. “My new case?”

“Exactly. How much research have you done on that yet?” he asked, and leaned back in his chair. Keyleth felt like he was asking for something specific, but she had no idea where this was going. 

“As much as I could. They've moved a lot over the last years, it's difficult,” she replied, feeling the need to defend herself. 

But Percy just nodded. “I can imagine. I know you have called around a lot, asked for files, information on the twins. Through all of that, did you not wonder why they have moved so much? Have you spend a single second looking into Syldor himself?”

This wasn't helping her confusion, and she just shook her head slightly. 

“Well, I will tell you why then. Syldor Vessar is an ambassador of Syngorn.”

Keyleth just stared at him for a second before the implication of that fully sank in. An ambassador. How had she missed that. Sure, most of the time, the parents occupation wasn't that important, but this was a serious oversight. She should have noticed that. 

Percy continued. “You know what that means.” 

“Diplomatic Immunity,” she whispered, closing her eyes for a moment and cursing under her breath. Ambassadors and diplomats couldn't even get a parking ticket without it causing some kind of political scandal. “But Percy-” 

“No. I know, Keyleth, trust me, I know. I hate this just as much as you do.” 

She didn't doubt him, but still. “So you're saying-”

“We drop the case,” he finished for her. “Syldor already knows you were gathering information, and he was not happy. We can't do anything, legally, and this isn't worth your career.”

Her hands tightened in the folds of the dress she was wearing, turning her knuckles white with anger. “So what? There are clear signs that these children are not doing well, and you want me to just ignore it?” she asked. 

Percy held out a hand, trying to calm her. “No, that's not what I'm saying,” he assured her, or tried to. “You gather what you have, write a report with your strongest evidence, and we send it to Syngorn. Just because we can not do anything to help them doesn't mean that others can't try. But this isn't in our hands anymore.”

“Bullshit,” she muttered to herself, not willing to accept that for one moment. Percy knew just as well as she did that a report like that would most likely be ignored by the authorites in Syngorn, for more than one reason. One of them, she feared, that the twins weren't even fully elven. She didn't know much about the elven city, but from what she had heard, they cared a lot more about traditions and blood lines than most other places. 

“So we're just gonna let this slide, really?”

“I told you, we will do what we can. It may not be much, but we need to trust Syngorn to handle this,” Percy replied. He did feel bad about it, and he knew she would need time to understand, but in his opinion, their hands were tied. This was just how the world worked sometimes, and there was little they could do to change that. 

“Now, I want you to get something to eat, try to clear your head,” he told her, trying to keep his tone gentle. “When you come back, start working on that report. I want it on my desk by tomorrow morning, along with every bit of information, every file, every single sticky note you have on that family. As soon as the report is done you are officially off this case.”

Keyleth had to bite her tongue to keep from protesting. She finally just nodded, already getting up from her chair and turning towards the door. “Fine. You will have it by tomorrow.”

She closed the door a bit more forcefully than necessary on her way out, not bothering to look back to Percy again. On her way back to her desk something else occurred to her, something Pike had mentioned in their conversation a few days ago. What was it that she had said?

'I was kinda hoping you would get the case.'

Oh. That gnome was in for it. 

Finally getting her purse and cell phone she made her way out of the building, Pike's number already flashing on the screen as she stepped out on the street. The other woman could barely get a greeting out before Keyleth talked over her, her tone tense. 

“Did you know?”

There was silence on the other end for a second. “Keyleth I-”

“Syldor Vessar. Did you know?” she asked again. 

Pike sighed softly. “Of course I knew. The man wasn't sublte about his position when he enrolled his children.”

“Did you keep it from us on purpose, so we would start an investigation you knew we wouldn't be allowed to finish?” It wasn't hard to hear now that Keyleth was upset. “Is that why you wanted me to have the case, because you knew I wouldn't be able to let it go?” 

Again, there was silence. She could hear papers getting shuffled around in the background, then, Pike answered again. “Alright, you know what, I don't have class right now. Why don't we meet up somewhere and then we can talk?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decisions, decisions.  
So apparently we have reached the point where it takes me a bit longer to update, but this chapter also turned out to a bit longer than the rest. Also, dialogue is hard.  
Enjoy!

Twenty minutes later, Keyleth found herself in a little café not too far from the twins' school, where Pike had already been waiting for her. She settled down across from the gnome, meeting the welcoming smile with a wary look. 

The space around the counter was busy with people picking up orders, most of them, Keyleth assumed, either other teachers or hectic parents who were trying to get something to eat before they had to pick up their children. But the table they were seated at was in the back, and relatively quiet. The perfect place for a conversation like this. 

“I'm glad you're here,” Pike started. “I think I have a lot to tell you.” 

Keyleth was glad that she jumped right into the topic, instead of wasting their time on small talk. Not that she was in a hurry. After the way she'd left the office, Percy surely didn't expect her back very soon.

She nodded, moving her chair a bit closer to the table. “Well, not like I had much of a choice,” she sighed. “Just tell me how all of this started, alright? What made you suspicious of the Vessar family first?”

Pike seemed to think about it for a moment, but then shrugged. “Honestly, I'm not sure. The twins joined one of my classes halfway through the last school year, and at first they were just very quiet.”

“What changed?” Keyleth only noticed then that she had forgotten to take a notebook, or even a pen. She motioned for Pike to wait while she rummaged through her purse but came up empty handed. “Mind if I record this?” she asked, holding up her phone instead. Technically, she wasn't allowed to record conversations like this on her personal phone. But technically, she wasn't supposed to be here right now. Not with Pike, at least, who didn't mind her wayward methods.

“I'm not sure if anything really changed, I think we just started to notice things,” she continued. “With Vax especially. Typical teenager stuff at first, skipping a class or two, getting into arguments, nothing you get all that worried about. But we also noticed that the two refused to really interact with anyone else but each other.” 

Keyleth nodded slightly. They usually didn't get called in until things like that got out of hand, when the small issues were suddenly not to small anymore. “Why did it worry you that they stuck together though? They moved a lot, it's a bit expected for siblings, especially twins, to take time to get used to a new environment like that.” 

“Sure, we're used to it on a smaller scale,” Pike replied, easily agreeing with her. “But unless they were in class, they would not talk to anyone, and it went on for months. That isolation was what worried us. Then there were a few bigger incidents.” 

“Like the knife? Or Vex breaking that other kid's wrist?” Keyleth asked, remembering that from their files. She also realized that this was going to be a bitch to transcribe later if they kept using shortened versions of the twins' names. One more reason not to like Syldor Vessar from what she had so far. 

But she was ripped from that line of thought when Pike answered her question. “Exactly. And, but don't quote me on that, I actually think she did that on purpose to get suspended along with her brother. I'm not saying she provoked the guy into harassing her, because that's hogwash, I'm saying she saw an opportunity and ran with it.” 

“That's... quite the theory,” Keyleth muttered, but she could easily see where the idea came from. 

“I know, I know. But the two things just happened a bit too close to each other to be a coincidence,” Pike told her with a shrug. “Anyway. Fast forward a bit, and Vax was skipping gym class. And I don't mean every few weeks, he just stopped going altogether. That was the point where I started to get involved.”

“Involved how?”

“I recommended Vax for counseling at school, since I'm in charge of that anyway. And with his month long suspension, along with the fact that he had always responded well to me in my class, it was easy enough to get through,” she explained. “And sure, he wasn't happy about it at first, but after a while I think he started to open up a bit.”

That was definitely news. The files hadn't mentioned any kind of in-school counseling. “So what did you talk about?” Keyleth asked, knowing from experience that building up enough trust to get anything substantial out of conversations like that could take a lot of time. 

Pike smiled slightly at the question, one hand moving up to wrap around the Sarenrae pendant she always wore around her neck. “Mostly religion, at first. As I said, he seemed to have an interest in what I teach in my class, so I figured it was as good a starting point as any. We made a deal in our first session; he wouldn't have to go to P.E. anymore as long as he showed up for every counseling meeting.”

“I'm not surprised he took that,” Keyleth replied amused, seeing that the deal was probably also the reason the counseling didn't show up on his record. Or at least one of the reasons. “Did you inform his father about that deal?”

As expected, Pike quickly shook her head. “No. From the age of 14 we are not obliged to tell the parents if their kid sees a guidance counselor at school, you know, as long as there is no danger of the child hurting themselves or anyone else, so I took advantage of that. It was part of our deal as well.” 

“Makes sense,” she agreed. That particular law wasn't new to her, but she knew that a lot of schools informed the parents anyway, it always depended on the person in charge. “What else did you talk about, beside Sarenrae and all the other guys up there?” 

Pike rolled her eyes at Keyleth's disregard for the gods, but she was used to it. “Well, as I said, it took some time, but he opened up a bit. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he doesn't like his father, and I'm sure he didn't even tell me half of it, but the man seems to have little patience, or even love, for his twin children.”

Keyleth interrupted her again, once more getting more questions than answers from this. “That sounds like the same doesn't apply to their little sister. Did he say anything about that? Or about his biological mother?”

“Hmm.” Pike paused for a moment. “From what he told me, Velora has it a bit easier with their father, yes. But he has never once mentioned his mother, and has always ended the conversation when I tried to get into his and Vex'ahlia's life before they went to stay with their father,” Pike answered, frowning slightly. Her expression darkened even more as she went on. “But aside from all that, what has worried me the most so far, and what was actually the reason I decided to call you guys in, is that he has shown up to class a few times- injured, for lack of a better word.”

Keyleth just raised an eyebrow at that, silently urging the other woman to continue. If this was true, there was no way she would be able to give up this case. 

“I've seen him limping, definitely trying to hide it. I've seen bruises barely hidden by his clothes, shaped a bit too suspiciously like fingerprints. This morning, he came in with a split lip.”

Pike would have continued, had it not been for Keyleth's surprised look. “This morning? Percy also got the call from Syldor to drop the investigation this morning. Fits a bit too well to be a coincidence, doesn't it. Not that it proves anything-”

Pike interrupted her. “Exactly! None of this proves anything, but it's gotten to a point where I can't ignore it, even with the status his family has. I didn't know Syldor had already found out about the investigation, but I suppose he's got enough friends in higher places.”

“Maybe I should have been more careful with who I was calling,” Keyleth muttered, more to herself. If she had just looked into Syldor from the start, she was sure she could have worked around it somehow. But now...

“So what now? What did Percy say?” Pike asked, and Keyleth told her about the order she had been given, about the plan to send it all to Syngorn and hope for the best. As expected, Pike was as upset about it as she had been herself. 

After managing to calm her down a bit, Keyleth proposed something else, “Now, I know I can't just continue this like a normal case, but. I refuse to just hand it over and let that be the end of it. I have some ideas, but it's not much of a plan so far.”

Pike nodded along, leaning in a bit as their conversation started to become more conspirational. “Whatever you need, I'll help.” 

Over the next half an hour they traded ideas back and forth, made plans just to discard them again, tried to find ways of bending the rules of bureaucracy in a way that would actually help the twins. At the end they had a short list of bullet point goals, a lot of them plans for if something else didn't work out. But Keyleth had at least some sense of accomplishment with this, and it was better than returning from this with nothing. 

They promised to keep in touch over the next few days and then finally went their own ways again. As expected, Percy didn't say anything as Keyleth returned almost an hour late from her lunch break. She could see him watching her from his office, but did her best to ignore it and went back to her own workspace. 

Once there, she did exactly what he had asked of her. She wrote her report on the Vessar family, the few titbits of information she had been able to get and what they could imply. Most of the information Pike had given her did not make it into the document, seeing as she had gotten it off the clock and hadn't recorded it properly either. And she knew Percy would go through it again, and not because he did not trust her to do it according to the rules. It was his job, and he tended to take that seriously. It was better that way, she thought. 

After that, she distracted herself with other work she had still lying around. Percy came by more than once, insisting she should go home, take care of everything the next day. She just told him it was better for her to be useful here instead of sitting around at home and not being able to think of anything but the Vessar case, so he finally left her alone. 

As it got late and more and more of her colleagues started to leave though, she knew he was getting suspicious. But with a few well placed glares and enough time spend on her phone where he couldn't bother her, Keyleth managed to keep him away from her desk until he gave up and started to pack his things as well. 

On his way out, he stopped by again though. There was more concern in his voice than annoyance when he spoke up. “I don't want to insinuate anything, but-” he stopped again, then just shook his head. “Nevermind. Right now I don't have any evidence that you are planning something rash. Let's keep it that way.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she responded, not bothering to look up from her computer, but she could see him smile out of the corner of her eye. 

“Good. I will be off then. Don't run yourself into the ground tonight, I still need that report tomorrow morning.” And with that he left. Keyleth watched him disappear through the door and waited, just a few seconds longer, until she could make out the faint sound of the elevator doors opening and closing. 

And as soon as she was absolutely sure that she was the last person in the office, she jumped out of her seat, grabbed the files she would have to return the next day, and darted off towards the copy room. 

About twentyfive minutes later she left the building with a stack of papers under one arm and a USB drive buried at the bottom of her purse. She ignored her shaking fingers as she started the car, firmly telling herself that this was not the right moment for a breakdown over what was basically abusing her position. Not to mention breaking some laws along the way. That would have to come at some later point, preferably when Syldor Vessar wouldn't have access to his children anymore. 

Of course, only as long as everything she and Pike were assuming about this case turned out to be true.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some plans are set in motion, let's hope it all goes well.  
Enjoy, let me know what you think!

Keyleth was not early the next day. She was late, a much more usual occurrence for her, and nothing her colleagues weren't used to. So when she saw Percy standing at her desk, she could have sworn her heart stopped beating for a second. 

Putting on her friendliest smile she tried to cover up how nervous she was and walked over. “Morning. Something wrong?” 

“I need the files,” he told her, and it took her a second to remember that he meant the original versions, the ones she had already promised to turn in. 

“Right. Of course,” she muttered, walking around him and sitting down, taking a moment to gather everything together. She was sure that, if the slight trembling of her hands didn't give her away, he would surely notice her heart beating out of her chest.

But she was able to collect the papers without another comment from him, only getting a small smile as she handed them over. “You know I would have handed them in even if you didn't stand over my desk like some kind of death omen, right?” she asked, trying to get some humour into the situation. 

“I know, figured I would make sure anyway,” he replied, lowering his head slightly so he was looking at her over the brim of his glasses. His eyes seemed to pierce right through her, and Keyleth was once more reminded that her friend was surprisingly good at being scary. 

Straightening up again, he cleared his throat. “Well, I'm still expecting your report. Unless you finished that yesterday already? You were here awfully long.”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm done with that,” she assured him, digging through her desk once more to find a physical copy of it. “Here you go. Are you satisfied now or are you still going to watch me like a hawk?” 

“We'll see.” 

She breathed a sigh of relief as he left, though she was now convinced that he would actually be watching her. Not a surprise, but it didn't feel good either. She send a brief text to Pike, letting her know that Percy was definitely suspicious, and then spend a few minutes getting settled into her work space. 

There were two things on her list today concerning the twins. One was to try and get her hands on their birth certificates so she could find out where they had lived before being send to their father. The second, and she would have to hype herself up to that, was calling Syldor Vessar. 

If that call proved to be unsuccessful, if she couldn't sell the little lie she and Pike had agreed on, their plans could already be over. So she would do that later, take care of some other things first. Maybe, if she got lucky, Percy would leave the office for a bit and she could call without the risk of being overheard. 

But for now it was more important to try and not arouse any more suspicion from her boss, which meant going through her routine as normally as possible. 

By the time lunch rolled around it seemed to have gone relatively successful. Going about her work as usual had calmed her down a bit and Percy wasn't getting up every ten minutes to look over the bullpen as if it was going to explode.  
She spend her break at her desk, still watching out for an opportunity that would leave her as alone as one could get in a bullpen office. But luck seemed to be on her side, as, eventually, Percy was called out of his office at a moment where her neighbours also seemed extremely busy with their own cases or were gone completely. 

She picked up her phone and dialled the number of the Vessar home estate, and her heart rate spiked up again. While she waited for the dial tone to stop an old memory from high school English class resurfaced, Edgar Allan Poe's Tell-Tale Heart. A story that made a lot more sense now. Not that she was trying to cover up a murder, but it felt close enough. 

Finally someone picked up on the other end, but not exactly the person she'd been hoping for. 

“Office of Syldor Vessar, Xanthas speaking.”

Considering that this was the number noted down at their school for emergencies, she hadn't expected a secretary to answer the phone. But by now she figured she should be used to these kind of things. 

“Hi, my name is Keyleth Ashari, I'm with CPS,” she introduced herself. With her mother's name this time, which was not technically lying. It was more of a precaution. If Syldor knew about her calling around about the twins, there was a good chance he'd gotten her last name from one of his sources as well. “I would like to speak to Mr. Vessar, if possible. It's important.” 

There was silence on the other end for a moment. Then: “One moment, please. He is in an important conversation right now, but the line will be free in a few minutes.”

“Good, I'm going to wait,” she told him, not sure if he had told her that in the hopes of getting rid of her. It definitely wasn't ideal, seeing as Percy could come back any second and potentially overhear this conversation. But she needed to get this over with, and there was no use in waiting. 

She didn't even get an answer from the other man, but the elevator music that was coming through the speaker at least assured her that he hadn't hung up on her. So she waited, keeping an eye on the clock across the room and the door below it. 

Percy didn't make it back in the ten minutes it took Syldor to finally pick up her call, which was a relief. Being kept waiting for that long definitely didn't do anything for her mood though, and the only reason she didn't snap at him was a very strong reminder to herself that she needed to stay professional. This whole plan hinged on buttering up to the man and playing to his arrogance, definitely no place for personal feelings. 

She introduced herself once more, making sure not to slip up with her last name. “Mr. Vessar, hello. As your assistant has probably told you, my name is Keyleth Ashari and I am with CPS.”

“Ah, yes. So I was told,” he replied, and maybe Keyleth was biased at this point, but his voice already sounded unpleasant. There was a slight drawl to it, as if he had a million better things to do then talk to her at the moment, and his tone just seemed cold overall. “I was also under the impression that I had told the last person I talked to what I think about your little service. Do I need to remind you once more than you have no right to investigate my family?”

She was quick to reassure him, hoping he would even stay on the phone with the mood he was in. “No, no of course not. And I am well aware of your conversation with Mr. De Rolo, but I fear that there are a few clarifications needed. As his supervisor, I thought you might appreciate it if I call you myself.” 

This was the most dangerous part so far, and if the man decided to call her on her bluff, if he found out she was lying about her position, she could very well lose her job for this. But again, she hoped that his arrogance would save her. 

“What kind of clarification?” he asked finally, which at least meant he was willing to keep talking. So far, so good. 

“Well, from what I was told, you seemed to be under the impression that our investigation was somehow working against your family. I can assure you, it is not.”

“Oh?” She could practically hear his eyebrows raising with that simple word. “Then pray tell, what was it supposed to be?”

“Well, you see,” she started, trying her best not to stammer through her reply. She needed to come off as confident as possible, “background checks like that are a very standard procedure, whether we end up working with a family or not. And of course, I can understand your complaint about it, considering your position.”

All she got in reply to that was a quiet hum, not sounding as displeased as it could have been. So she decided to keep talking. “But, my point is, of course you are not required to work with us. Technically, no one is, until we actually get a court order. Almost everything we do is based on volunteering cooperation,” she tells him, which is, again, not a complete lie. “Considering that your son seems prone to acting out, I would still like to offer you that cooperation. Some teenagers go through very difficult phases, where some professional insight from our team could be helpful. But of course, this is entirely your decision. ” 

Keyleth was careful to avoid placing any blame on him or his wife, instead insinuating that this was purely on the boy himself. The complete opposite of the route they usually took, but if it got Syldor working with them it was worth it.

She waited a few seconds with bated breath while the man seemed to consider this options. “Well, I can not deny that Vax'ildan has proven himself more difficult to handle in the last few years. Maybe to be expected with the death of his mother, but I do not want his behaviour to reflect back on this family, or, Gods forgive, Syngorn.”

Keyleth bit her lip and crossed her fingers in her lap. If he was going to give in just like that, it would almost be too easy, but she wouldn't complain. Also, her theory about the twin's mother being dead had just been confirmed, which was more information than she had hoped for during this conversation.

“And I do think that it would not help the public image if I let him continue like that. Maybe some professional help is not the wrong idea,” he agreed finally, making Keyleth sink back in her chair in relief. 

A second too late she remembered that she should answer him and quickly sat up straight again. “Oh, that's- that's great, yes. Why don't we agree on an appointment then where we can sit down with everyone? Just so we can all get to know each other. We have learned over time that transparency is especially important with children, and that these kind of processes can take time.”

“Of course, allow me to forward you back to my assistant, he will make sure to find a time where everyone is available,” he told her, before giving her a brief dismissal. The elevator music turned back on, while Keyleth still couldn't believe her luck. It only took a few seconds this time before she was reconnected, and five minutes later they had found a time for next week where she was invited into the Vessar estate. As she hung up, she was convinced that this had been one of the most stressful calls of her life. But at least it had paid off. 

She wrote another sticky note with a reminder of the appointment and a few things she would need to get done until then. Talk to Pike again, get the birth certificates, find out more about the mother, and somehow keep Percy off her back during all of it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than expected and I didn't really mean for the chapter to move in this direction, but it's what happened. The twins' case slips a bit out of focus, but we'll be right back with them next chapter.  
Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think.

The rest of the week went by tortuously slow, with every look from Percy, every call to his office, giving her more anxiety than it should. But when the day of her little field trip finally arrived he still hadn't caught on to her ploy, or at least not called her out on it. 

She knew that Pike was as nervous about all of this as she was herself, spending more time in the temple after school hours and asking for Sarenrae's blessing. If not for herself and Keyleth, then at least for the Vessar children, was what she had told her. Keyleth wasn't a fan of the Gods, not with everything she had to deal with in her job, but even she had found herself calling on the Everlight more often these days. It was more taking a God's name in vain than praying, but still more than she usually did. 

Keyleth arrived in the office that morning with her usual tardiness, but there was still plenty of time until she had to leave for her house visit. So she settled down as usual, planning to look over her research one more time and hopefully finish another pressing report before heading out. 

It didn't quite work out like that. And in hindsight, she should have seen it coming. Nothing ever worked out that perfectly. 

Her suspicion started when she noticed Percy rummaging around his office for the first time, catching it out of the corner of her eye and over a steaming mug of fresh coffee. He was wearing one of his nicer suits, the ones he only got out for official business. Court visits, meetings with his superiors or other important people, that sort of thing. 

When he left his office she expected him to go towards the elevators, not come back into the bullpen. When she realised he was instead once more walking towards her she sat up a bit straighter. He was giving her an expectant look, which she could only meet with confusion. 

“Are you ready?”

“Ready for...?” was her intelligent reply. 

In the next three seconds Percy seemed to go through several different emotions at once, before he took a deep breath and leaned forward towards her. “The court hearing, Keyleth. Kynan's court hearing. The one we have been preparing for for over a week. Please tell me you didn't forget about this.” 

Her eyes went wide at that, and she scrambled to check her planner. Not surprisingly, Percy was right. The hearing was clearly marked down, beginning in less than an hour. Thumbing through the pages she also found the note she had made for her meeting with the Vessars, which she had never bothered to actually tuck into the right place. 

She shut the little book with a bit more force than necessary. A look back up at Percy clearly showed that he was waiting for some kind of answer though. 

“No- no of course not. I'm ready!” she replied, giving him a nervous smile. “Just give me one second, just... wait for me outside, I will be right with you.” 

Percy sighed deeply, but nodded. “You have three minutes.” 

As he left, Keyleth checked the time again before starting to stuff files and notes into her purse. If the court hearing started in 40 minutes, and she needed to be at her second appointment in three hours, there was a very slim chance this would still end well. If at all possible, she would call and at least tell them she might be late. But unfortunately, right now she had other things to worry about. Of all things that could have fallen on the same day, it had to be these two. 

She came out of the building with a few seconds to spare, joining Percy in his car. They still had about half an hour to make it through morning traffic, but Percy seemed confident that they would make it in time. While he was driving, Keyleth went over her report one last time, going through the details with Percy out loud. If he was still annoyed with her, he was professional enough not to show it at the moment. 

As Keyleth had expected, they got stuck on the busy roads eventually. Everything was moving at a sluggish pace, coming to a complete stop now an then with particularly slow traffic lights or moody pedestrians moving about. Percy was visibly growing more and more impatient, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and muttering curses under his breath as the car crawled forward inch by inch. “We should have left earlier,” he sighed, finally leaning back a bit in his seat and apparently trying to relax. 

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Keyleth replied sheepishly. “Really, this is on me. I don't know how I could forget about this.” 

But to her surprise, Percy shook his head. “I was not paying attention to the time either, so no need to blame yourself too harshly. Let's just hope that being a few minutes late won't matter too much.” 

Keyleth nodded slightly, just agreeing with him and trying to keep her answer light. “Oh, you know court sessions in Emon. Not being late would be the weirder thing.” 

At least that got a slight smile out of him. But while it wasn't rare for Percy to loose track of time, it rarely happened when there was another appointment to keep in mind. And it was even more unusual that he would admit to it, which gave her the feeling that something had been actively distracting him. Whatever it was, he did not seem eager to talk about it though, and they let the last few minutes in the car pass in silence. 

Once the car was finally parked they hurried to find the right room, getting an annoyed look from the judge as they entered. Keyleth looked around, and immediately noticed that Percy and she had not been then only ones missing. Kynan and his father were nowhere to be seen. 

The judge motioned her over, and Percy stepped up with her to the table as she clutched her notes to her chest. Custody cases like this were often held in more relaxed settings, at least when the children were supposed to be present. 

“Ms. Korrinson, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Any idea where Mr. Leore and his son are? I assume you notified them of this appointment?”

“Of course they were notified,” Keyleth replied quickly. “Mr. Leore has definitely gotten the letter, he even called me back to... confirm the time and date.” He had mostly called her back to yell at her for about ten minutes, but that still had to count in a way. 

“Maybe he is stuck in traffic, like we were,” Percy offered, but the judge didn't seem impressed by the idea. Keyleth got the unfortunate impression that the woman had gotten up on the wrong side of bed. 

“We will wait a bit longer, I suggest you try to contact the man somehow,” she told them, to which Keyleth just nodded. “Sure, yeah, we will do that. Definitely... do that.”

She stepped back from the table again with Percy and they sat down a few feet away. 

“You don't actually think he's stuck in traffic, do you,” Keyleth asked with a sigh, looking at her friend and supervisor. 

“No, but we can hope,” he muttered in reply. “But from what I know from your report, chances are better that he's home, black out drunk, and ignoring this little situation here.”

Keyleth placed the files in front of her on the table, thumbing through the pages to look for the Leore's phone number, getting her phone out at the same time. “Ugh, I knew we should have filed for Grog to escort them here or something,” she muttered, frustration rising as she punched the numbers on her screen. 

She listened to the dial tone until the phone went to voicemail. Instead of leaving a message, which was usually useless anyway, she hung up again. “I'll try again in a few minutes, he's not picking up right now,” she huffed, and took a moment to check the time. It wasn't looking good. 

They waited for another twenty minutes or so, tapping their feet, Keyleth's eyes going back to the clock above the door again and again. She finally tried again, and this time, after a couple of rings, someone picked up. She heard Kynan's voice through the speaker, a bit timid on the phone as always. 

“Hi, Kynan!” She did her best to keep any kind of irritation out of her voice while talking to the boy. That would be the last thing the kid needed. “It's Ms. Korrinson. Is your father home?”

“Yeah,” came the immediate answer. “But he can't come to the phone.” 

“Why's that?” 

“He's in his room. He's pretty drunk, didn't make it to the shop this morning,” he told her, and Keyleth just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “He's okay though! I checked,” Kynan said quickly, which didn't make her feel any better. A ten year old shouldn't have to be so used to these circumstances. 

“Alright. We- we will send someone over anyway, okay? Just to make sure,” she told him. If the judge didn't give her permission to get the boy after this, she didn't know what to do anymore. “Just wait, alright? I'm going to make a call and someone's going to come for both your father and you.”

She got a rather indifferent reply to that, but he agreed to stay put so she felt safe enough to hang up for now. After that, everything moved a bit faster. 

She called an ambulance to the Leore house first, giving them her name and station and making sure they would take Kynan with them to the hospital. Suspicion of alcohol poisoning. She convinced the judge that there was imminent danger for Kynan's well being and got permission for temporarily removing him from the home, which was not what she had been hoping for today but better than nothing. 

With the signed order in hand, Keyleth and Percy left the building again. There would need to be a second court meeting, with Mr. Leore present the next time, to determine what would happen in the future, but for now she was just glad that she wouldn't have to leave Kynan in that house again. 

“Would you give my sister a call?” Percy asked her, as they got in the car and he started to head to the hospital. Where Kynan would hopefully be waiting for them. “She already has too many children with her as it is, but she might know another emergency placement.”

“Will do,” Keyleth mumbled, searching her phone for Cassandra's number. While her brother worked for CPS directly, Cassandra had taken over responsibility for a series of children's home in different districts of the city. Despite her rather young age, she was known for running them well, and she usually had a good overview of which foster parents were available and which already had more children than they should have. Like Pike, she was one of those people they could always rely on to make their job just a little bit easier. 

Fifteen minutes later, Keyleth had the information she needed. “Jarret Howarth,” she tells Percy. “I got the address and Cas is gonna give him a heads up for us. As soon as we can leave with him here we should be able to drop him off.” 

“Alright, alright. That's something,” he agreed, just as he pulled into the parking garage of the hospital. Keyleth gathered the needed paperwork so they could take the kid with them and then followed him inside, more glad than ever that Percy had been with her today. Without him the day would have been far more chaotic. But in the back of her mind, she still had the timer counting down to her appointment with Syldor Vessar, and time was running out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keyleth's day doesn't seem to be getting any better. After taking care of Kynan, she finally meets the first member of the Vessar family in person though, and she's not sure what to think about them yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I had real world stuff and then writer's block to deal with. This chapter isn't ideal and I really really wanted to introduce the twins, but it just didn't happen. Have this instead, I hope you still enjoy it and I'll try to update again soon ^^

As expected, getting Kynan to his new, if temporary, home didn't take long. The boy had taken his new situation with an apathy that was in the very least worrying, asking no questions after they had explained where they were taking him and why. And that they did not know yet for how long he would stay there. 

On the drive to Howarth's address Keyleth had still sat with him in the backseat, though he had refused to talk or engage much. All she wanted now was to stay, at least for an hour or so, just to see if he was able to deal with the change and to get a good read on his emotional stance. 

Sure, children were resilient, but some of them were prone to hiding, which always made her worry more. A child who took his anger out on objects or other people, a child who would scream and kick and shout and sob, was at least less likely to have their suffering overlooked just because they were 'well behaved'. 

At least Jarret left a good impression with her. He let them inside, apologizing that he'd had little time to prepare, yet his home was clean and he had a room set up for Kynan. It was nothing more than a bed, a nightstand and a dresser for now, along with a mix of toys and some decorations to make it child friendly. 

While Percy and Jarret talked for a moment, Keyleth sat down with Kynan on his bed. “Alright, well. Percy and I will have to leave soon, but you know you can always call me in an emergency, right?” she reminded him, since they had the number of her work phone saved on his own. 

Kynan just nodded, looking at the floor and scuffing his toes against the carpet instead of looking at her. 

“And just because you are here now doesn't mean I will stop visiting you, I will still come by regularly to make sure you're okay. How does that sound?” she asked. 

Another nod. Silence, while she waited for him to say something, anything. He wasn't required to, but Keyleth would sure feel a lot better if he did. But nothing came of it, Kynan just continued to study the carpet and the room around him a bit, so Keyleth gave a nod as well and got up again. “Well.. we'll be on our way then. I will see you next week, at the latest. Otherwise you know how to reach me. But I'm sure you'll get along with Jarret as well.” 

She left him with that, joining Percy and Jarret in the kitchen instead. 

“How is he?” Percy asked, keeping his voice down so Kynan wouldn't have a chance to overhear them. 

“Overwhelmed, I guess. Doesn't want to talk,” Keyleth told them, not quite able to keep the worry out of her voice. “Give him some space, but- you know. Keep a close eye on him,” she added, directed at Jarret this time. 

“Of course, I will do my best,” the man promised, though he looked a little out of his depth as well. Not unusual for first time foster parents, they could only hope he would get the hang of it quickly. 

“I have no doubt you will,” Percy assured him. “You know who to call if you need further help. We would prefer to stay longer, but unfortunately, we have more work waiting for us back at the office.”

Jarret assured them his understanding and they were finally able to leave again, trying to assure themselves that they had done what they could for now. 

“Give them a day or two to settle in at least a little bit before you call for an appointment,” Percy told her once they were back in the car. “By then Howarth may be able to assess the whole situation a little bit better.” 

“Yeah, I think that would be wise,” she agreed. Her eyes immediately went back to the clock, which she had avoided since they had left the hospital to actually focus on Kynan, but with a sinking heart she had to realized now that she should have been at the Vessar estate ten minutes ago. 

Until they got back to the office, until she could switch to her own car and actually make it out there, at least another hour would pass. Her phone didn't show any missed calls yet, but part of her also doubted that Syldor would even care if she didn't show up. Just another reason for him not to cooperate, if the person trying to talk to him proved herself to be unreliable before said cooperation could even start. 

She was startled out of her thoughts by Percy again, apparently her expression had given her away. “Are you alright?” he asked. “You seem more keyed up than usual.”

“No, I'm okay,” she muttered. “Just looking forward to my break. This took a surprising turn.”

“But in a way, you still got what you wanted.”

“Sure, but doing this over the court, and I mean the proper way, probably would have meant less stress for the boy,” she replied. Not to mention that she had forgotten about the whole thing in the first place. 

“Can't disagree with that,” Percy sighed, just as they arrived back at their own office building. “Take your break then, I will see you in an hour.”

“Yeah, about that,” she started, giving a sheepish look when he immediately raised an eyebrow at that. “I was going to ask your for some more time today. It's, uh, family issues. I'll try to make it quick, I promise, but an hour might not cut it.” 

Percy sighed again and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it already was. “Alright, sure. Is everything okay? Is this about your father?” 

“No. I mean... kind of? It's hard to explain. But really, everything's fine, it's just something I need to take care of,” she assured him, hoping not to worry her friend too much. She already felt bad enough about lying, especially after how much he'd helped her today. 

“Of course. Let me know if you need anything, and I mean that as your boss and your friend,” he told her, his tone more gentle this time.

Keyleth felt absolutely abysmal at this point but managed to reassure him that she would, and finally got out of the situation. Percy headed into the building, presumably back up to his office, while she made it to her own car. 

She deflated for a moment behind the wheel, resting her forehead against the cool leather as she resisted the urge to scream. The day was going to hell in a handbasket, but there was no way around this. She needed to get to the Vessar estate as quickly as possible, which meant as quickly as current traffic would allow. 

Pulling up to the estate a short while later, the first thing she noticed was that Syngorn apparently spared no expenses for their diplomats and whoever else was working here. The mansion was on the nicer side of buildings, even for the Cloudtop Disctrict, and the garden that stretched around the building was meticulously kept. However, there was still a thick wall and heavy iron gate seperating her from the people she needed to talk to, so she finally reached up and rang the bell on the outside, waiting for the intercom to start up. 

It only took a few seconds before a voice came through, one she didn't recognize yet. A woman, from what she could tell, which wasn't much with the buzzing undertone of the speaker. 

“Hi! Keyleth Ashari, we had an appointment today. Can I come in?”

There was a brief pause. “Yes. An hour ago.”

“I know, I know! My apologies, there was a bit of an emergency I had to take care of first. It would be a lot better if we could discuss this inside though.” 

There was another pause, and no answer. Then something on the gate made another buzz sound, and it unlocked. Keyleth stepped in, careful to close the gate behind her, and then made her way to the front door of the mansion. 

The door already opened before she could get there, and an elfen woman stepped out. Keyleth approached her with what she hoped to be a friendly expression and hold out her hand as she stepped up to her. 

It didn't seem too successful, as the smile she got in return was tight lipped and the offer of shaking hands was refused. 

“My name is Devana, I'm Syldor's wife,” the woman told her instead of a greeting, leading Keyleth inside while they talked. “My husband has retreated back to his office after we have been waiting for a while, so I'm not sure if he will be able to come out now.”

“That's understandable, but as I said, there was not much I could have done,” Keyleth told her, trying to keep up with Devana's quick step. “Would you be able to go and ask him, at least? I know your husband is a busy man, I would hate to have to come back on another day just to take up even more of your time.”

“Of course, I will ask. But I'm not going to make any promises. He was- not happy about being kept waiting.”

Keyleth could imagine that very well. And the pause in Devana's voice made her suspect that the woman was underselling her husband's anger right now. 

Only now did she realize that she hadn't been paying much attention to where Devana was leading her, but the rooms they walked past were not as pretentious as she would have expected from the outside. Servant's quarters, most likely, she thought, as they stopped in a small kitchen. It was homely, though, and still big enough for a round table and a couple of chairs. 

“If you would be so kind as to wait here, I will be back in a few minutes,” Devana told her, though she did not wait for an answer before she turned around and left. 

Being left alone like this, Keyleth took a moment to look around. It definitely didn't seem like a place the Vessars themselves frequented, especially considering the notes scattered around and pinned to the fridge in different handwritings, or the different family pictures that lined the wall above the countertop. 

Not wanting to be nosy with people who didn't deserve it she left it all alone, instead sitting down at the table and noting down her first impression of Devana Vessar. Of course, first impressions could be treacherous, and Keyleth knew she had to stay aware of her own bias, but so far it seemed like Devana didn't talk much on her own and left important decisions to her husband. She told herself it was just something to keep an eye on, instead of drawing conclusions from that. 

To her credit though, Devana did return relatively quickly. Keyleth hurried to tuck away her notes and got up as she saw the other woman approaching, still with a sour look on her face.

“As I feared, Syldor cannot join us at the moment. But he has agreed that waiting for another appointment would be tedious,” Devana told her, clasping her hands in front of her. Her whole demeanour reminded Keyleth a lot more of a maid than of someone who should be head of the household along with her husband. Also, the woman hadn't been done talking yet, and Keyleth was holding her breath hoping she wouldn't be thrown out. “So we have decided that it should be enough for me to be present while you talk to the children. As long as you agree to these conditions. 

“So I can't see Sy- sorry, your husband, at all?” Keyleth asked, a bit conflicted about it. On the one hand, chances were a lot better that anyone would tell her anything while Syldor wasn't present. But with Devana still there, they likely still wouldn't tell her anything incriminating towards their father. And she had been hoping to talk to Syldor in person, just to get a feeling for him. 

“No, unfortunately not.”

“But I think it would be impartial for any kind of rela-”

Devana interrupted her, her tone a lot sharper now. “You can take this deal as it is or leave. I do not think you are in a position to make demands at the moment.” 

The sudden bluntness surprised her, to say the least, and Devana seemed almost as shocked. They stared at each other for a second, before Keyleth just nodded, trying to deescalate the situation. “My apologies again. I'm very aware that this is not under ideal circumstances, so... sure, I would be happy to talk to everyone while I can. Lead the way, please?”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keyleth has her first chance to talk to the Vessar children. It doesn't quite go as she'd hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for the late update, but I hope this makes up for it at least a little bit. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

Devana lead her almost all the way back to the front door, making Keyleth wonder for a brief second if she changed her mind after all. But where they had previously excited the entrance hall was a staircase, and when Devana started to lead her up there she could quickly tell the difference between the servant quarters and what seemed to be the main living rooms for the family. 

Everything became more spacious, a single hallway now about twice the size as they had been downstairs. Most of the doors where closed, but Keyleth was pretty sure she caught sight of what had to be the twins' room (the two beds gave it away, along with a desk stacked with school books and a general air of messy-ness). They also passed a relatively open living room, with two comfortable looking sofas in front of a fireplace, a big tv screen mounted above it. The walls were lined with books shelves and expensive-looking art, and despite the fact that it didn't look sterile or unlived in, Keyleth couldn't imagine it to be the best place for a four year old. She herself at that age would have been afraid to touch anything in here, just on the off chance that it could break. 

But before she could think about that any more, they'd already left again and Devana was leading her further down the hall, finally pushing one of the doors open. 

“Children, Ms. Ashari is here,” the woman announced here, in a tone that made Keyleth cringe. But she pushed herself into the door as well to finally get a look. They'd entered a play room, from the looks of it, though every toy she could see was clearly meant for someone Velora's age. Nothing spoke of two teenagers being around as well, not even a single one of the games in the shelf above the gaming console. 

The twins were there though, sitting amongst the chaos with their little sister. It took her a moment to tell which one was which, but she was pretty sure that Vex'ahlia was the one seemingly trying to do her homework, sitting cross-legged on the floor with her back against the couch that took up some space in the room, while Vax'ildan sat above her, both Velora and a book in his lap. 

All three looked up as they stepped inside, and their facial expressions already gave a lot away as Keyleth gave an awkward wave. Fairly neutral on Vex' part, though she looked untrusting, and Vax gave her a look that was outright hostile. Most surprising was Velora though. 

“Are you the one who's gonna take my brother away?” she asked, immediately clinging closer to the boy and her eyes wide with worry. 

Vax answered before Keyleth could, frowning at his sister as he held her a bit more tightly. “What? Who told you that kind of nonsense? No one's going to take me away... she's just here to talk. Right?” 

The last word he directed a Keyleth, with a look that dared her to say otherwise. She just raised her hands in surrender, smiling slightly.

“No, don't worry, I'm not here to take anyone away,” she assured them, and the little girl seemed to relax a little. “Your brother's right, I'm just here to talk. Would you mind if I sat down with you?”

“Vex'ahlia, get us two chairs please. I don't want anyone sitting on the ground,” Devana stated. Vex'ahlia hesitated for a moment, but when the cold look she shot her stepmother didn't seem to change her mind she started to get up with an angry huff. 

“Oh no, please, it's fine. I would just like everyone to be comfortable,” Keyleth insisted quickly, motioning for Vex to stay down. The girl seemed confused but settled down again, looking between the two women as if she wasn't sure who to listen to. Trying to ease the tension, Keyleth mirrored her pose, sitting down cross-legged in front of the couch, and started to get her papers in order. “I really don't mind sitting here, so your mom can take the place on the couch.” 

Devana didn't seem too happy, but when little Velora reached for her mom with a wide smile her eyes softened a bit and she sat down as well, lifting the girl into her lap. Free of the weight, Vax leaned back and, if subconsciously or not, nudged a bit closer to Vex again. 

Now that she could get a close look at all three kids, Keyleth also noticed some other things. The twins were both definitely on the thin side, maybe a bit too much so, and had dark circles under their eyes. Vax' split lip was also still very obvious, but seemed to be healing well at least. 

All three were also clearly tense, and while Velora was on her mother's lap now she was still holding on to Vax' shirt. Keyleth was almost surprised on how well the siblings seemed to get along. So even though the twins resented their father and possibly their stepmother as well (from what Pike had told her), they didn't seem to project that onto Velora. She wasn't sure yet if that was a good sign or not.

“Well, I suppose you all know why I'm here,” Keyleth started, finally having everything where it was supposed to be and her notepad in front of her. 

“Yeah, because my brother's an idiot,” Vex'ahlia muttered, prompting Vax to kick her in the back. 

“Not quite,” Keyleth interrupted with a grin, before the two could really get going. “There's been some... behaviour in the past, especially at your school, that has managed to worry some people. So I'm here to help you guys with that.” 

The twins still looked suspicious, but at least Velora seemed to relax a little. Hopefully Keyleth had managed to convince her that she wasn't a threat to the family. 

“Help how?” Vex asked, shifting positions now to draw her legs up to her chest and resting her chin on one knee. 

Keyleth shrugged. “First, I just need to get to know you guys a bit, so I assume there'll be a lot of talking. And hopefully that's going to tell us what's going wrong, eventually.”

“So what, this is basically therapy?” Vax asked, scrunching up his nose. He didn't seem very stoked with the idea, and she understood that. From what she knew he was still seeing Pike, he hadn't called and end to that just yet, but it had taken a lot of time for him to trust his teacher. 

“Not quite like that either,” she told him. “It might be a bit hard to explain.” 

“But you're a social worker, right?” Vex asked. “Sy- Father said you were from CPS.”

Keyleth nodded, putting her notepad down for a moment. Maybe this first session was more about the kids getting all their questions out of the way instead of the other way around, and she was very okay with that. “That's true, but our work can look very different from family to family.”

After a brief pause she decided to say a bit more on that, hoping that honesty would get her somewhere here. “Actually, we had a very difficult situation just today, which did end up with us taking a little boy away from his father. It's the reason I was late today, which I'm sure you noticed.” 

Velora nodded, and suddenly looked very serious for a four year old. “Daddy was very mad about that,” she mumbled, pressing closer to her mother. Devana just ran a hand through her hair, but Keyleth could see the knuckles on her other hand turning white with how tightly she was suddenly gripping the girl's shirt. Velora didn't seem to notice. “He yelled a lot. I don't like it when he yells.”

“That's all right, maybe we can get him to yell a little less then, if I come more often,” Keyleth told her gently. 

Devana interrupted her after that, rather abruptly, her tone as icy as it had been when she'd greeted her at the door. All the tension that had seemed to bleed out of her while sitting with her daughter was back full force. “I think that's enough for today. I'm sure Ms. Ashari has a lot of other things to worry about today. 

Knowing she was being dismissed, Keyleth just nodded and got up. “Alright. Well, it was nice to meet all of you-” 

“Wait!” It was Velora again, who'd jumped up from her mother's lap now and came over to Keyleth, grabbing on to the skirt of her dress. “You said you wouldn't take my brother away. But why did you take the other boy away from his Daddy then?”

Keyleth bit her lip, looking to Devana first before crouching down again. She always preferred to be on eye level with the children. “It wasn't an easy decision, but this little boy was being treated very badly by his father.” 

“Did he yell a lot, too?”

“He did, but he also did other things, that were a lot worse. Like leaving the boy alone for a very long time, or even hitting him. So we had to take the boy away to keep him save.”

Velora frowned, apparently still not liking the concept. “Are you keeping him now?”

“No, but he's with another person who will hopefully take good care of him,” Keyleth told her. “And if his Daddy does better in the future, he can maybe even go back.” 

Another look at Devana told her that she'd definitely worn out her welcome now, so she got up again and gently tucked a strand of hair back behind Velora's ear. “But your mother's right, I have to go now. I'll see all of you again soon though, hopefully.” 

“I assume you can see yourself out?” Devana asked, picking Velora up now and settling her at her hip. 

“I- sure. No problem,” Keyleth stammered, though a small part of her was honestly afraid of getting lost in the building. If she remembered correctly though it was just down the hallway again, down the stairs, and then left towards the entrance hall. She could manage that. “Thank you so much for having me, I'll just... call. For the next appointment.”

Devana nodded, and Keyleth all but fled the room. The conversation had definitely given her a little bit more insight, but it also could have gone a whole lot better. Getting both Syldor and Devana to hate her hadn't been the plan. 

After a few minutes (and at least one wrong turn) she was back outside, taking a deep breath as the heavy wooden doors closed behind her. But the relief of being alone didn't last long, as she spotted Vax'ildan leaning against the wall of the house. 

Which was at the very least surprising, seeing as she couldn't spot a side entrance on this side of the house. Looking up, she could see Vex'ahlia, leaning out of an open window to watch both of them. If she wasn't so sure that it was absolutely impossible, she would have believed that Vax had climbed down the wall. But... surely he'd just used some door she couldn't see at the moment. 

Either way, he was walking towards her now, and he didn't look amused. 

“Hey. Stay away from my family.”

“Or what?” was her very intelligent, and very confused reply. 

He didn't answer at first, just managed to somehow look even more sullen than before. Then he sighed. “Listen. I know you're trying to help, but I also know you have no jurisdiction here. And whatever you're trying to pull, it won't work. I wouldn't cross Syldor if I was you.” 

“I guess you're speaking from experience here, huh?” she asked, keeping her tone gentle though. “I understand if you- don't trust me. And if this doesn't work out, I'm probably not the only adult who's every failed you. But yes, I'm trying to help, and I'm not going to let a man with power scare me off.” 

“Then you're stupid,” he spat back. “Vex and I can very much handle ourselves, we don't need any kind of official intervention.”

“And what about your little sister?” she asked. “Can she handle herself as well? You might think he treats her better than he treats you or your twin sister, but from my experience, that could change any moment. Do you want to wait until he hits her, too?” 

She could see him falter for a moment. But only for a moment, before his resolve hardened again. “He won't. And if he does, we'll handle that as well.”

“You're fifteen, Vax,” she reminded him. “That's not your job. It's mine, or Devana's, or hell, anyone else's. And you can either help me do it or you can decide not to, I guess. I won't blame you either way. But- maybe try to put enough faith into what I'm doing here to at least let me try.” 

“I'm not really going to stop you,” Vax huffed. “Just figured I'd tell you what I think about it.”

“That's okay. Just... you know, if you want to tell me where that split lip came from, any time,” she reminded him gently. “Actually, wait.” She took a moment to rummage through her bag, eventually producing a calling card with her name and number on it. “Take this. Don't let Syldor know you have this, or Devana for that matter, but please know that you can call me anytime.” 

The boy actually took it, if hesitantly, and tucked it away in one of his jeans' pockets. “I won't, but fine.” 

She nodded, and when neither of them said anything else for a few seconds she realized it would be best to leave now. She didn't look back again until the iron gate was closed behind her and she was back in her car. But as she drove off, Vax was still standing there. Watching until her car disappeared.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex and Vax debrief after Keyleth's visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't really sure how to continue with Keyleth's POVs after the last chapter, so even though I didn't plan on it in the beginning, I guess we're having a chapter from Vax' POV now. I hope it's not too jarring, and thought some introspection on the twins may be nice.  
As always, enjoy! And PLEASE let me know what you think :)

Vax starred at the car until he couldn't see it anymore, feeling like the calling card was burning a hole in his pocket the whole time. Only when he knew that the CPS woman was definitely out of view did he turn around again, climbing up the thick ivy that covered the wall up to their room. Vex helped him the last few feet, reaching out so she could pull him up in a joined effort. 

“Did they see you?” she whispered, quickly closing the window behind him after leaning out for a brief look around herself. 

“No, don't think so,” he muttered, rubbing his hands where the ivy had cut a bit too deep. “Maybe some of the servants, but you know they won't tell on us.” 

“I'm still not too sure about that one,” she huffed back, settling down on one of the beds now and leaning back against the wall. 

He sighed, understanding his sister's suspicion but also getting a bit tired of this conversation. “It's been months, Vex. If they wanted to rat us out to Syldor they would have done it by now. Anyway.” He paused, pulling the card out again, studying it a bit longer this time. “What do you think about Ms. Saviour Complex?” 

Vex shrugged in reply, refusing to meet his eyes. “No idea. But you better put that thing away, before either of them sees it.” 

“Right. I'm not gonna throw it away though.” She looked surprised at that, but Vax was already laying down on his back and shimmying under the bed, before she could openly complain. As quickly as possible he worked the small hidden compartment open that they had carved out of the frame ages ago, and stored the card there. He had to fold it over to make it fit, but it worked. 

They had more of these hidden storages around their room, but this one was the most important one, hiding their SIM cards and a memory card. It was the only way to hide some things from Syldor's random searches of their phones and other electronic devices. They'd learned a long time ago that getting caught with some things just wasn't worth it. 

Some of the other things hidden in their room, some better than others, were a few last memorabilia from their mother, and some food when they could get away with storing it. If not, Vax had to risk nightly visits to the kitchen, which were even harder to pull off. Not that they hadn't gotten better at it over the years, but still. 

He was just about to put the wooden block back into place when Vex tugged on his leg, hissing frantically. “Vax, someone's coming!”

Knowing he didn't have more than a few seconds he let the block fall were it was and quickly crawled back up from under the bed, managing to sit up just in time as the door opened, but not without hitting his head on the bed frame beforehand. 

He ignored the dull throbbing as best as he could, trying to make it look like he hadn't just been rolling around in the dust. Though when he saw that it was Devana who had come looking for them, he relaxed slightly. Just the tiniest bit. 

She just looked at them for a moment, her eyes flitting over the room. Vax could have sworn her gaze had caught on him for a second longer though, and he did his best to keep his expression neutral. His hands were folded in his lap, hopefully hiding the dirt that still clung to them. 

“Your father wanted me to tell you that dinner will be ready soon,” she finally said, apparently not able to find anything she could openly comment on. “In about an hour. Don't miss it.” 

“ 'Course not,” Vax muttered, earning himself a swift jab in the ribs from his sister. 

“We'll be there,” she replied dutifully, though her stare was about as icy as his own had been. “No worries.” 

“Wonderful,” she replied, already turning to leave again. “And Vax.. maybe you should clean up beforehand.” 

She was gone before he could reply, and could hear Vex exhale in relief as the door closed again. “That was... a bit too close for comfort.”

“At least it was just her, not the asshole himself,” he grumbled, and started to pick a few fluffs of dust out of his hair. He really did need to clean up, not only himself, but apparently also the space under their bed. Hadn't done that in a while, from the way he looked. 

“I'm not surprised, I swear he hasn't actually talked to us since the whole CPS thing has started,” Vex replied, starting to help him. “And before you say anything, yelling at you over that does not count as talking.” 

Vax rolled his eyes, thinking to himself that it would have been a lot easier if yelling had been all that had happened. But they had this odd habit of not saying these things out loud anymore, as if, even in their own home, someone could overhear. And not just their father, as the obvious threat. 

No, the real danger was in someone noticing outside. Well, someone who would actually have the power to do something about it, which they had realized at some point, no one really did. Back in Syngorn, no one would have cared either way. And with their father dragging them all over Exandria in the recent years, they knew their family was all but untouchable. 

But still, the fear of being found out had somehow stayed with them. Not even of being found out, really, but of being separated because of it. As shitty as their home was, Vax was sure that there were kids out there who had it worse, mainly because they didn't have an awesome twin to share their hell with. Two souls endured better than one. 

“It's not like I was going to defend him,” he finally answered, realizing that Vex was still giving him an expectant look. “I think I like it better that way, actually. I can go without the minefield that is talking to that man.”

Vex agreed with him on that. 

Surprisingly, despite the extremely tense atmosphere in the house, and the initial consequences when Syldor had found out about the CPS agent assigned to them, it had been- almost relaxed, since then. Their father was too busy with being angry at bureaucracy and work to breath down their neck all the time, and even the violence seemed to have ebbed down. Of course, there could have been multiple reasons for that, and Vax honestly didn't care enough to try and find out what it really was. He would take whatever reprieve he could get, and hope it wasn't the calm before the storm they were experiencing right now. 

But he didn't want to worry about that either at the moment. So he finally got up off the floor and went over to their closet, getting a towel and some fresh clothes out. He needed a shower. Everything else could wait.


End file.
